(Rated this album with 2 out of 10) Reviewed by
Wayne
from Seattle, Wa United States
Long, long ago, in a galaxy far, far away......a friend, and fellow musician/ metalhead handed me a cassette tape which he had picked up on a hunch a week earlier. He says: "Check this s**t out, I think you'll like it, but you can't just listen once....give it several tries before you decide....it needs to grow on you." Never had my friend been anymore wrong than on that day. I only listened once. From the maelstrom of "fight fire with fire," to the eerie, and brutal "Call of Ktulu" I was hooked like a junkie on the rig. Over the next few years I would tirelessly follow this band, seeing them live whenever they were even close to my hometown, and learning alot from their riffs about playing guitar at a time when I had really just started. While being a fan of many metal bands including Maiden, Priest, Mercyful Fate, Megadeth, and just about anything that to me kicks ass, I considered myself first and foremost a Metallica fan. There were many reasons for my uncompromising loyalty, but things like musical integrity, word of mouth fan base, and great music selling the albums were at the top of my list. No fluff, no radio airplay, They were A basic no b.s. killer band. The way they would approach their live shows with 3-4 hours of music, you ALWAYS felt like they gave you MORE than your money's worth, and last but certainly not least.....the music. I was a true to the bone, diehard, metal up your a** Metallica fan, and I knew many others like me..it was realy a beautiful thing for a band that had very little coverage in any magazines, NO radio airplay, or fancy promotion. The music simply did the talking, and because of it, all you had to do was let someone hear the light, and they were instantly baptized. Looking back now, it all seems much clearer than it did then, (as it was actually going to sh*t.) To make it brief, Metallica died, and faded into the memory of great music that won't ever be duplicated when Bassist, and musical genius Cliff Burton met his untimely demise in a bus accident while on the M.O.P. tour in Europe. At the time it was really sad, but I don't think ANYONE truly knew what the band had lost until A.J.F.A. hit the shelves. Don't get me wrong, this album wasn't a terrible album, in fact had any other band put this album out, it would have been an instant masterpiece. But, I must confess now (even though I lied to myself about it at the time) that for the first time since my Metallica conversion, warning bells were ringing. "One," brought Metallica to the mainstream in a way none of their previous efforts ever had, and even though I wanted to deny it at the time, I couldn't help but believe that this wasn't just the way the song came out......it was crafted with dollars in mind. The entire album had a sound to it that to me just seemed to be missing something...Like most fans, I didn't think too much of it though, they were too heavy to sell out I thought, too dedicated to their true loyal fans...(the ones that really put them on the map with nothing more than word of mouth,) and the music. I waited anxiously (like most of my friends) for the next album, dreaming of thunderous riffs, killer thought provoking lyrics, and unique twists and turns that gave Metallica their signature sound. When The "Black Album" hit the shelves I was waiting at the store on the manager to open up. I made haste to the car, and to my stereo to get my fix.....at last, the moment had arrived. In spite of my initial feeling, I was determined to give it three complete passes, end to end, before passing any judgement. But, after the second pass, the third was hard to get to. It was all I could do to keep from throwing the tape out the window of my car, and watching it explode all over the highway. What seemed to be a whiff of corporate gas on A.J.F.A. was now a full blown stench. This band had sold out to every commercial interest that they possibly could, completely ignoring, and abandoning the loyal, diehard fans that put them where they were. They were nothing more now than average corporate shills, with one eye on album sales, and the other on their bank account. After the "Black Album," I gladly abandoned this band in the same fashion in which they abandoned me. I will always have a copy of the first three albums in my collection, as no great metal collection could be without them, but to help keep Cliff Burton from rolling over in his grave any more than he already is, I don't own any of the other drink coasters. BUT, I did give St. Anger a listen, because my 15 year old nephew thinks he is a Metallica fan. Thats right, he can tell you the names of all the albums...all the way back to Garage Days! :-( He is so typical of the average fan of this band now...I realize that I have took the long way around to say my peace about this album, but this is the one (and likely ONLY) time I will ever really take a moment to express my take on the whole Metallica farce, and I wanted to let it all hang out :-) To say it simply, every album since A.J.F.A. has gotten consistently worse, and St Anger is just one more turd in the droppings. I also find it quite interesting to note that the worse this band gets, the better the aloof, ivory tower reviewers a.k.a. Rolling Stone, Mtv Etc...see them. Calling this album: "Pure Genius," pure genious? Wow....maybe I'm a genius too...
